Soft Shell Blue Crab Sandwiches

08 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by Bob and Robin in Blue Crab, Captain's Shack, Comfort Food, Crab, Dinner For Robin, Dinner With Robin, Hard To Find Foods, Meadowlark Farms, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe by: Robin and Bob Young, Seafood, Shell Fish, Snake River AVA, Soft Shell Crabs, Special Dinners, What's For Dinner?, Wines - Idaho

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Blue crabs, Cold Springs Winery, riesling, soft shelled crabs

Oh! Such a treat! Our daughter Marnie and her husband Mac were in Virginia for several days and she texted me, “Do you want some soft shelled crabs?” Silly girl! Of course! Was there ever a question? Nope! So when they arrived back in Boise at 12 midnight, she brought the crabs to us. Still 98% frozen in dry ice. Straight to the refrigerator to hold for 24 hours. And were they ever yummy! Add to the sandwiches a glass of 2009 Cold Springs phren/ology Riesling and we had an awesomely good meal!! A super good wine and a super good sandwich! Just look at what we did.

Soft Shell Blue Crabs – ready for cleaning.

Frying the crabs for 4 minutes on each side in 350 degree vegetable oil, Crisco.

Dredge before cooking in 2 Meadowlark Farms eggs with a splash of milk. Beat the eggs.
Flour – 1/2 c All Purpose Flour, 1/2 c Corn meal, 1 1/2 T Old Bay Seasoning and Salt and fresh ground Tellicherry Black Pepper. Stir to mix.
Dredge crabs in eggs, then in flour mixture. Shake to remove excess flour. Fry.

Serve on a Brioche roll or on Croissants. Serve with slaw, I used chopped Savoy cabbage with our special Slaw Dressing – the recipe is in the Boise Foodie Blog Recipe file above.

Pan Seared Pork Tenderloin with Rosemary, Balsamic Orange Sauce

23 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by Bob and Robin in Captain's Shack, Cheese, Comfort Food, Dinner With Robin, Housemade Pasta, Idaho Wine, Photos By: Bob Young, Pork, Salad, Side Dishes, Snake River AVA, Syringa Winery, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wines - Idaho

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Cheese Sauce, cuts of pork, orange sauce, pork, pork tenderloin, Wine

Such a great way to serve a scrumptious pork tenderloin. A little involved, but nonetheless delicious. The orange sauce really adds to this dish. I did not have any chicken stock, so I used turkey stock and I think it came out just fine. Then we served it with 2010 Syringa Winery Sangiovese and the paring was super good! I used this wine in the sauce, too. The original recipe came from the Cooking Channel, Kelsey Nixon. I adapted it slightly.
As sides we had a Fresh Green Salad, Steamed Asparagus and Housemade Pasta with Artichoke in a Cheese Sauce. Here are some photos of the dinner. Enjoy – We did! I will probably post the recipe in the Recipe File above. Cheers!

The pork tenderloin has cooled enough to slice it. So juicy and moist and tender. Delicious.

Pan SearedPork Tenderloin with Rosemary Balsamic Steamed Asparagus Green Salad Housemade Pasta with Artichokes in a Cheese Sauce 2010 Syringa SangioveseOrange Sauce

Pan Seared Pork Tenderloin
with
rosemary and balsamic orange sauce

Steamed Asparagus

Green Salad

Housemade Pasta with Artichokes in a Cheese Sauce

2010 Syringa Sangiovese

Cottonwood Grille Revisited

04 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bearnaise Sauce, Beef, Boise Restaurants, Buy Idaho, Chocolate, Chocolate and Food, Classic Sauces, Colter's Creek Winery, Cottonwood Grille, Dinner With Robin, Herbs, Idaho Wine, Idaho's Bounty, Kobe Beef, Locavore, Oysters, Photos By: Bob Young, Potatoes, Restaurant Reviews, Salads, Seafood, Shrimp, Snake River AVA, Special Dinners, Syrah, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food

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Béarnaise sauce, Colters Creek winery, cottonwood grille, Crème Brûlée, garlic mashed potatoes, London Broil

It was a good meal. And to get the negative out of the way, I thought the peas we had were a little salty for us – we eat very little salt – so the saltiness may not be entirely true for everyone. We would have liked a little more garlic in the potatoes. So will this keep us from going back? Probably not. The Kobe beef that Robin had was so very tender and delicious. My London Broil was good and the Béarnaise sauce on it was wonderful! Robin had an awesome Chocolate Mousse served in a White Chocolate Cup and I had a delicious Crème Brûlée. Here. Look at these photos and enjoy! If you want a more detailed review of the Cottonwood Grille, look at Our Restaurant Guide.

Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail

Wonderfully fresh seafood!

Oysters On The Half Shell

How fresh were these? You could taste the ocean and smell the ocean and hear the waves crashing on shore. That’s how fresh they were!

Caesar Salad

Love how this is presented.

Fresh Green House Salad

Kobe Beef with garlic mashed potatoes steamed peas

Kobe Beef
with
garlic mashed potatoes and steamed peas

London Broil with Bear garlic mashed potatoes and steamed peas

London Broil and Béarnaise sauce
with
garlic mashed potatoes and steamed peas

Chocolate Mousse in a White Chocolate Cup

Crème Brûlée

And with our dinner, we asked for a Fraser Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon but they were out of it. So we got a good 2011 Colter’s Creek Syrah, both are Idaho wines are very good and went quite well with our dinners.
But beforer we went for dinner here at the Cottonwood Grille, we went to the Arid Club, which is designed “To establish a club of business and professional men and women whose members are uniformly congenial with one another as nearly as may be, to provide them with an attractive and convenient meeting place, and to exclude there from bigots, propagandists, boosters, go-getters, uplifters, reformers, and snobs. [Arid Club Preamble]” for the release of the documentary film on the Idaho Wine Regions called “Idaho Wines: From Bud to Taste Bud”. It is on its way to be presented at the Sun Valley Film Festival.

Goodbye Spring, Hello Summer!

22 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Antipasto, Appetizers, Buy Idaho, Chardonnay, Comfort Food, Dinner With Robin, Hat Ranch Winery, Idaho Trout, Idaho Wine, Interesting Information, Local Harvests, Locavore, Main Dish, Marsing, Merlot, Orchard House, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurants, Snake River AVA, Special Dinners, Special Events, Special Information, Syrah, The Orchard House, Things To Do, Trout, Weston On The Lake Winery, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wines - Idaho

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chardonnay, Hat Ranch Winery, Idaho wines, merlot, syrah, The Orchard House, Weston Winery

Clear blue skies! Light, cooling breezes! 88 degree temperatures. Only thing missing is a tempting ocean breeze. We spent the day both at Hat Ranch Winery off of Plum Road in Marsing (their postal address is in Caldwell) and the Snake River AVA and then to a wonderful dinner at The Orchard House. Hat Ranch was releasing their Tempranillo, which is very good. The Orchard House has good meatloaf.
Hat Ranch Winery bought Vale Wine Co., as some of you might already know. Some of the Vale wines were there for us to try also. Their Chardonnay is really a good one and will pare well with foods that need a citru match. Not an oaky chardonnay. The appetizers that they had to accompany the wines, see the photo of the menu board below, were a perfect match. Enjoy these photos and if you are in the area, stop in at both Hat Ranch Winery and The Orchard House. You won’t be disappointed. Cheers!

Hat Ranch Winery, Tempranillo release party, menu board.

A very good Redpepper Humus. Not overly spiced.

A very good Redpepper Hummus. Not overly spiced.

Good selections on the Antipasto Platter.

Some of the wines we tried. We also tried a Hat Ranch Merlot and Syrah.

Some of the wines we tried. The Tempranillo will pair with most foods, especially Italian or Spanish.

The Vale Wine Co., Chardonnay.

And then, we went to The Orchard House for dinner. Goodbye diet for today! We always enjoy the meals here. If I were to choose which meal I would constantly get here, it would definitely be the breakfast. It is just so satisfying. But today, we had a good Meatloaf dinner and an Idaho Trout dinner. This is one place that you can get a good meatloaf away from your own kitchen. The Orchard House is located at 14949 Sunnyslope Road, Caldwell (just outside of Marsing) in the Snake River AVA.

We had to check this bottle of wine out. It really is named for the Weiser Old Tyme Fiddlers Festival, which is just over for the year.

This is the back of the bottle. Good information. Left-Click this or any of these photos to see them enlarged.

Robin had this good Idaho Trout dinner.

I had their Meatloaf Dinner. Just a good ol’ down home dinner. We did buy a bottle of Shane Weston’s 2009 Weston On The Lake Pinot Gris. Such a great day today. Super great tour of the area, of sorts, with Robin.

Great Halibut Dinner

31 Saturday May 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Capers, Captain's Shack, Carrots, Cooking Styles, Dinner At The Captains Shack, Dinner With Robin, Greens, Halibut, Herbs, Idaho Wine, Main Dish, Parma Ridge Winery, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe by: Robin and Bob Young, Recipes, Salad, Seafood, Snake River AVA, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wines - Idaho

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capers, Filets de flétan en papillote, halibut, halibut packet, saffron

Last night we had this awesome Saffron Halibut Packets, a recipe adapted from Roger Mooking. This is an absolute keeper recipe. The style of cooking halibut in parchment paper is called Filets de Flétan en Papillote, or generally en Papillote. There is a great Mexican recipe – I can’t remember it correctly right now – from the movie Tortilla Soup where they prepare a fish this way. Anyway, here is our adaption. Enjoy!

The halibut is being prepared for the parchment wrap.

See the halibut and carrots in the packet?

Opening the parchment. Be careful. There is steam in the packet.

Fresh Made Potato Leak Soup
Great starter!

The halibut is being prepared for the packet.

Saffron Halibut Packets
Fresh Carrot and Green Salad
with
lemon, olive oil and salt dressing
2004 Parma Ridge Vineyards Dry Gewurztraminer
Be sure to check the recipe above.

Awesome Easter Lamb Dinner

22 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop Sourdough, Boise Artisan Bakery's, Boise Farmers Market, Buy Idaho, Celebrations, Dinner With Robin, Easter Dinner, Easter Lamb, Food Prep, Greens, Idaho Lamb, Idaho Wine, Lamb, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Locavore, Miner's Lettuce, Photos By: Bob Young, Prep Work, Purple Sage Farms, Recipe by: Robin and Bob Young, Recipes, Ridge Winery, River View Gardens, Salads, Sawtooth Winery, Side Dishes, Snake River AVA, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wines - Idaho

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arugula, Idaho wine, Leg of Lamb, Miner's Lettuce, River View Gardens, sawtooth winery

This is probably one of the best lamb dinner we have had. I adapted it from a recipe found on Epicurious. Here is the link to our adapted recipe: Arugula, Spinach and Miner’s Lettuce Stuffed Lamb. The recipe is not for the faint of heart. But it is really fun to do. Give it a try. Take your time and enjoy the process. If you don’t have an already boned leg of lamb, here is a previous post on this blog about boning a leg of lamb. Well worth the short time to view the video. How To Bone a Leg of Lamb. Enjoy the lamb. Most, but not all, of the products on our menu were from Idaho – Support Idaho Farmers: Buy Local. And we really try to do this. Here is our list: Wine – Sawtooth Winery; Lamb – Felzien Family Lamb; Garlic – River View Farms; Salad Greens and Herbs – Purple Sage Farms; Bread – Acme Bake Shop and Vegetables – Volcanic Farms. Left-Click any of these photos to see them enlarged. Cheers!

The boned leg of lamb with the stuffing in place. To bone the lamb, see the link above.

The rolled and tied lamb is “getting happy”.

The cooked lamb is resting to redistribute the juices.

Green Salad
with
Miner’s lettuce, slivered carrots and green onion
Olave Coratina Olive Oil and Agrestum Balsamic Vinegar Dressing

Wines For Dinner
2011 Sawtooth Winery Estate Grown Pinot Gris ($43.00)
2003 Ridge Vineyards Lytton East Zinfandel ($165.00 – 54 barrels produced)

Arugula, Spinach and Miner’s Lettuce Stuffed Leg of Lamb

The Entree Menu
Arugula, Spinach and Miner’s Lettuce Stuffed Leg of Lamb
Oven Roasted Rosemary Yukon Gold Potatoes
Roasted Vegetable Medley
Acme Bake Shop Sourdough Bread

The Entree Menu
Arugula, Spinach and Miner’s Lettuce Stuffed Leg of Lamb
Oven Roasted Rosemary Yukon Gold Potatoes
Roasted Vegetable Medley

Robin’s Baked Chicken Roll-Ups

19 Wednesday Feb 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Asian - Sushi Joy, Blue Crab, Brocolli, Chicken, Crab, Crescent Rolls, Photos By: Bob Young, Snake River AVA, What's For Dinner?

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Cream of Chicken soup, Roll-Ups, Ste Chapelle Grenache

But before we get to the Roll-Ups, we had an awesome lunch at Sushi Joy again yesterday with friends Russ, Carinjoy, Maggie, Robin and myself. Here is some of the plates we had. All were delicious again and Thanks Winnie and Tiger for an awesome lunch. Left-Click any of these photos to see them enlarged.

Epi Tempura

Sashimi Lunch

And then, this is what Robin made tonight, the Baked Chicken Roll-Ups. They were delicious. A real change! Serve the dish with a 2011 Ste Chapelle Grenache and you have an awesome dinner.

Cream of Chicken soup on the bottom and the Crescent Rolls laid out on top.

Roll pre-cooked chicken pieces in the rolls and lay them on the soup bottom.

Slightly cover the roll ups.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 540 minutes or until they turn brown.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 50 minutes or until they turn brown.

Steam some broccoli with leek and serve this with the roll ups. Really a yummy dinner. I liked it! I want to try this with some crab sometime and use a lobster bisque as the soup.

Snake River AVA Wine Dinner Extravaganza

11 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Dinner With The Winemaker, Food, Hells Canyon Winery, Idaho Chefs, Idaho Wine, Interesting Information, Party Time, Snake River AVA, Special Beers, Special Dinners, Special Events, Special Information, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wine Dinners, Zhou Zhou Winery

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Hells Canyon Winery

This word just in from Hells Canyon and Zhoo Zhoo Wineries in the Snake River AVA.

“Hells Canyon Winery/Zhoo Zhoo Holiday Wine Dinner
at The Dish

The Robertson family from Hells Canyon Winery/Zhoo Zhoo will be teaming up with The Dish (205 N. 10th St., Boise) for a holiday winemaker’s dinner on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 6:30 p.m.

Chef Jered Couch has put together a six-course menu of contemporary offerings designed to pair with select wines from this Sunny Slope estate winery. The dinner, to be held in the restaurant’s mezzanine, costs $100 per person (tax and gratuity not included). Seating is limited for this pre-pay event. To reserve a spot, call The Dish at (208) 344-4231

Steve Robertson, owner of Hells Canyon Winery, is an exceptional Chef and knows how to pair the wines with dinner. For those of you in Boise, do you remember Annabel’s or Mussels Fish Market? Steve owned and operated both places and held some awesome seminars on cooking that I took. Even though Steve will probably not be in the kitchen for this event, I feel confident that he will be “tasting” and matching the entrees. Knowing the talent level of the Chefs and the Winemakers, this should be an awesome evening. Cheers!